Around New Haven: 9.17.10

President Barack Obama joined fellow Democrat Richard Blumenthal LAW ’73, Connecticut attorney general and U.S. Senate candidate, Thursday evening at a fundraiser in Stamford, the Hartford Courant reported. The president then joined Blumenthal at a $30,000-a-plate dinner at the Connecticut estate of Rich Richman, an affordable housing developer. The dinner raised $1 million for the Democratic National Committee and was attended by Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau ’70 and Dan Malloy, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate. —Yale Daily News

Officer testifies at Cheshire trial

The case against Steven Hayes, the man charged in a brutal 2007 home invasion in Cheshire, Conn., moved forward this week. On Thursday, the court heard testimony from a police officer who collected evidence at the scene. The officer told the court that an accelerant, most likely gasoline, was used to stoke the fire in the bedroom of two sisters, aged 17 and 11, who died during the home invasion. He also said that ropes and pantyhose were found in the three second story bedrooms, which suggested the attacker tied the women to the beds. —Yale Daily News

Hayes seizure won’t delay trial

Hayes had a seizure, or at least seizure-like symptoms, Wednesday evening, his attorney told the court Thursday. It was Hayes’ second medical episode this year. During jury selection in late January, Hayes attempted suicide by overdosing on drugs and had to be rushed to the hospital after being found unconscious in his jail cell. Though Hayes was present at his trial Thursday morning, Judge Jon C. Blue, who is presiding over the case in the New Haven Superior Court, adjourned for the day following lunch. Hayes is being held at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield. —Yale Daily News

Number of Connecticut’s employed and uninsured rises

The number of uninsured employed Connecticut residents under 65 was 13 percent between 2008 and 2009, a 2 percent increase from the 11 percent rate between 2006 and 2007, Connecticut Voices for Children, a non-profit dedicated to promoting the well-being of Connecticut’s children and their families, said in a statement released Thursday. The group added that data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that 413,000 Connecticut residents, 62,000 of whom were children, lacked health insurance in 2008. —Yale Daily News

Foley trails Malloy in new poll

Republican gubernatorial Tom Foley is nine points behind his democratic opponent, Dan Malloy, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday. The poll also found that 8 percent of likely voters remain undecided and that a further 26 percent of decided voters could still change their mind. Seven weeks away from election day, the state’s independent voters are breaking 42 percent for Malloy, 42 percent Foley, and the remaining 16 percent are undecided, the poll found. There are 832,725 registered independent voters in Connecticut. —Yale Daily News

Injured workers suing contractor

Two New Haven construction workers have filed suit against Walsh Construction, the general contractor on the I-95 highway project, for injuries sustained at the construction site last year, the New Haven Register reported. Fernando Hernandez Sr. charges in the suit that he suffered broken bones, head trauma and blindness when a 26-foot rebar cage fell on him. The suit charges Walsh with ignoring industry safety standards in order to save money. The suit was filed the day after a worker was killed and three others injured after an accident at a Yale construction site in Science Park. —Yale Daily News